According To Dante
by Setkia
Summary: 'It already has.' Lily turned to him, confused. 'What' 'It's frozen. Hell, that is.' James said. 'At least, according to Dante. So you know, technically, you need to go out with me.'


_Author's Note: Please review and favorite! My first ever **Harry Potter** fanfic! No flames! I love James &amp; Lily. This was inspired by reading **The Infernal Devices,** a line was: "Hell is cold," which was a reference to a book called **The Divine Comedy,** better known as **Dante's Inferno** so I took it out from school and read it and typically, I don't really like poetry, but this was amazing, written in the 1200s, anyway, the book was great and I understood why Hell is cold. If this offends your religion, I didn't mean to because **Dante's Inferno**'s really tied to Christianity. Anyway, put Dante and Lily's response of: 'I'LL GO OUT WITH YOU WHEN HELL FREEZES OVER!' Gave me this idea. I don't own **Harry Potter**. Please review! I beg in the most non-pathetic way possible._

_**07/17/15:** Okay, it's been over a year since I've published this story but I feel like it could use some editing, so I've decided to do that. I feel I've developed more as a writer (I always feel like that every few years) and so, this story has minor changes to it. The initial plot stays the same and now that I think about it, the only thing that really changes is that some scenes were actually written out instead of described._

* * *

According To Dante

**'It already has.'**

**Lily turned to him, confused. 'What?'**

**'It's frozen. Hell, that is,' James said. 'At least, according to Dante. So you know, technically, you need to go out with me.'**

* * *

_'I'LL GO OUT WITH YOU WHEN HELL FREEZES OVER!'_

Her words resonated throughout the Great Hall almost as loud as his confession of love had been. Her fiery red hair stuck to her face as her chest heaved, her emerald-green eyes livid as the bespectacled boy stared at her wordlessly, his shoulders slumping slightly at her outright objection but it was gone within seconds and she was sure she had imagined it. He smirked at her with his famous lopsided grin.

'You know you love me Evans,' he told her, grinning broadly while his heart sank in his chest, but he refused to let it show. After a year of rejection, he was used to it by now and was an expert at disguising his displeasure.

Those who were in fourth year had become used to the shouting matches between the feisty, bookworm Lily Evans and the charming Marauder, James Potter. This was just another day in the life for them so they remained unfazed as the messy haired boy sat back down after having stood up on the bench at the Gryffindor table and continued to eat his breakfast as though nothing had changed but his best friend, Remus Lupin could see the slightly dimmer light in his eyes, his slightly forced laughter.

* * *

On March 27th, James' birthday, Remus bought him a book. James looked at it with joy, even though he didn't read any book other than _Quidditch Through The Ages._

'I'm telling you, it's good,' Remus said for the thousandth time.

'You always say that,' James whined, thankful for the thought Remus had put into the gift, trying to find a book James would like, but he highly doubted he would be interested. Remus told him it was a book of poetry written during the Roman Empire and James grinned at him, patted him on the back and told him nice try.

'You see that bookmark?' Remus asked, pointing to a scarlet ribbon near the quarter-way point. To be honest, James hadn't paid much mind to it before but now that Remus mentioned it, his eyes were immediately attached to the red bookmark.

'Yeah? So?' he said anyway.

'Read it,' Remus insisted. 'At least till there. You'll laugh, I swear.'

James shrugged and promised Remus he would read it, then tossed the book into the bottom of his trunk, forgetting about it.

* * *

During June, when James was unpacking his trunk, he found a book with a red bookmark and remembered his promise to Remus. He sighed and put it next to his bed. He supposed, for a friend, he could read ten minutes a night and finish the book by August at latest. After all, it wasn't that hard. All he'd do was tell Remus that while yes, the book was relatively good, it wasn't his cup of tea.

_The Divine Comedy_, or _Dante's Inferno_ was _good_.

Remus had been right, then again, he normally was.

James read through the book the first night and was instantly hooked, reading on until the morning and his torch had long burnt out. His mother had called him down for breakfast and he had, with dreary eyes, came downstairs, the book in hand.

He read throughout breakfast, accidentally spilling Pumpkin Juice on the nice pages. He felt bad, though when he got to the bookmark, he nearly fell off his chair, laughing.

'Are you okay?' asked Dorea Potter worriedly, running to her son's side. 'Are you hurt anywhere? Do you need a Healer? I still know some spells from my time as one-'

James held up a hand and stopped her fussing, wiping a tear from his eyes. 'No, it's f-fine,' he told her as his body shook with laughter. 'R-Really.'

Dorea Potter nodded, but she suspected something was not right about her son's sanity.

* * *

His best friend, Sirius Black came to live with him that summer.

When they got back to school, he got over himself, looked Remus in the eye and said, 'You were right.'

Remus smirked, the one that made him deserving of being a Marauder, if anyone had ever questioned it. 'Of course I'm right.' There was a pause. 'Why am I right?'

James held out _Dante's Inferno_. The book was slightly worn from the amount of times he had read it, spudges left on the pages when he refused to put the book away, despite eating greasy chicken. He hadn't even put it away to eat the cake they had made in honor of Sirius ditching his dreadful family.

Remus let out a laugh. 'Good?' he inquired.

'Good?' Sirius repeated. 'Merlin Remus, whenever he got that damn bookmark, his mother thought he was under _Rictusempra_.' He gazed at the book out of the corner of his eyes. Just what was so remarkable about it?

'Curious, Sirius?' Remus teased.

'You wish,' he snapped back playfully.

'Dare I say it, you're showing interest in literature which isn't a prank book?' Remus faked a gasp and wiped away a fake tear. 'They grow up so fast ...'

'Oh hush!' Sirius rolled his eyes. 'But seriously, what does it say?' He leaned closer towards James who shook his head and refused to show him, instead, raising it above his head, taunting him about it. So what if James was a tad taller than Sirius? That didn't mean he couldn't resort to evil tactics. He _was_ a Black after all, even if he wasn't on the family tree anymore.

'Oh Jamesy,' Sirius said in a sing-song voice. 'Here comes the tickle monster!'

'What? Sirius, N-NO!'

But it was too late, Sirius was attacking his sides and James sunk in his seat, laughter bubbling out of his mouth, his chest shaking as he laughed whole-heartedly. Sirius grabbed the book out of his grasp and James sat up again, holding his chest as he tried to catch his breath. Sirius skipped ahead towards the bookmark while Remus reprimanded him for spoiling the book for himself.

'Brilliant!' he said when he was finished, throwing the book back to James who caught it carefully. He was never this careful with his books unless they were Quidditch related. 'Show that to Evans and she's got to go out with you.'

James rolled his eyes at Sirius but he couldn't help admitting he had been thinking about it all summer.

_Now you'll _have_ to go out with me, eh Evans?_

* * *

He planned on telling her, the first chance he got, but then O.W.L.S got in the way, as did classes, major pranks and the preparation to master their Animagi forms. They spent late nights in the library, perfecting the transformation and _The Divine Comedy_ had to rest on his nightstand, untouched.

When The Incident happened, James forgot all about the book and threw it into the depths of his trunk once more, sure that if he saw it, he would add more stress to Lily, even though really, she didn't need anything else to worry about.

Sixth year came and James and Lily developed a slow friendship. He kept his distance, though he fell more and more for her with each joke she laughed at, each time her eyes sparkled and she would smile at him, he would feel as though he had swallowed a few shots of Butterbeer, turning his insides to mush.

Now in the "friend zone" as Sirius had come to call it, James had to tuck away any feelings he had at all for the redhead beauty.

She came to his Quidditch games and he'd never admit it, but he played better when she was there. She would help him with Potions and he would help her with Transfiguration. It got to the point where he was no longer the one seeking her out, _she_ came looking for _him_. It was too good to hope for anything more, so instead he pushed all of his feelings inside and forced them to never submerge. He couldn't risk something like this because of some stupid schoolboy crush.

It was during April of that year that James realised he was utterly screwed.

They were learning the Patronos Charm in class and standing there, with his wand, he listened to Lily's voice in his ears, he pictured her smile, her laughter and when she would sit next to him on the couch. The rare time he could make her blush surfaced in his mind and he whispered, '_Expecto Patronum.'_

He was screwed the second the stag bounded out of his wand and he saw a doe from across the room, prancing around Lily as she laughed, the silver animal caressing her cheek.

Sirius walked up behind him and pat him on the shoulder. 'Hey, doesn't this mean you're destined now?'

James shook his head. Though James had always wanted to believe in soulmates, this was something he had not expected. Not in the least. Besides, just when he thought he might be getting over her-

'Dammit, I'm screwed, aren't I?'

Sirius gave him a comforting rub on the back, serious for once. 'Afraid so, mate.'

* * *

Seventh year came and the book was brought out from deep in his trunk. He became Head Boy and he and Lily shared a dormitory, which became challenging for him at times, so in love with a girl who would never love him.

Now when he read _The Divine Comedy_, he didn't laugh. He picked it up for a sense of nostalgia with all the horrible war going on outside, he needed something to make him smile and instead, as he read the same passage, he was not filled with joy, he was filled with a bittersweet sadness.

He smiled bittersweetly at the passage and wondered how Dante could call this book a comedy when it made him want to cry. What did he do to deserve this?

James glared at the book, the source of all his misery, before chucking it at his wall with all his strength, watching it slam against the wall and fall onto the floor.

'James?'

James looked up to see Lily in his doorway, staring at him. 'What's going on? Are you okay?'

James nodded, trying to catch his breath. He wanted to scream. He wanted to tell her. But she had a damn boyfriend, Diggory, wasn't it? The damn Hufflepuff. Everyone knew that when your hair was as bright red as hers, as deep of a scarlet as the Gryffindor lion, you didn't go off with a damn badger. 'I'm just tired,' he told her, running his fingers through his hair. She gave him a small smile. Good thing she didn't find the nervous tick of his to be annoying anymore, otherwise he'd probably go insane. 'I dunno, I act weird when I'm tired. Sorry for worrying you.'

Lily nodded. 'You know,' she added, staring at the book that lay on the floor still, 'if you want, you can talk to me about anything. We're friends, aren't we?'

_Yeah. Friends._

James nodded. 'Yeah, I know.'

He laid down on his bed and shut his eyes, not opening them until she was gone.

_'You can talk to me about anything.'_

_Not this. I can't talk to you about this._

And though she was gone, her presence still lingered.

* * *

He kept it all in. He ignored the times she refused to go out to Hogsmead with him because she had a date with Diggory, but that didn't mean he had to like it. Merlin, he hated it, but he wouldn't tell her that. She wouldn't know. She _couldn't_ know.

And then came the night of patrols.

They usually spoke about many things during patrols. Barely anyone stayed out past curfew and so they would roam the halls, laughing and joking. As Lily was telling James about her day in Runes, he suddenly blurted:

'It already has.'

Lily turned to him, confused. 'What?'

'It's frozen. Hell, that is,' James said, not quite sure why he had spoken. He had already decided he wouldn't tell her and yet here he was, telling her. _Merlin brain, won't you listen to me for once?_ 'At least, according to Dante. So you know, technically, you need to go out with me.'

'I'm sorry, I don't understand,' Lily said, confused.

'See, _The Divine Comedy_ is about this guy named Dante, who's technically the author, who goes on this trip with this poet named Virgil and they visit the different areas of the afterlife, so Hell, Purgatory and Paradise,' James explained. And he just kept talking! Was there some greater being forcing him to suffer? 'So Hell is split into nine circles-'

'Hell is circular?' Lily asked, slightly confused.

'It's a book,' James said with a shrug, as though this explained everything. 'Either way, the first circle of Hell was limbo, then the next seven were the Seven Deadly Sins and the last circle of Hell was a frozen lake, so technically, Hell has frozen over.' James rubbed his neck sheepishly. 'Just thought you might like to know.'

Lily's eyes widened.

James was practically asking her on a date. But he was over her, wasn't he? He was supposed to get over her, live his life and she'd live with the horrible fact that she realised she loved him too late, he wasn't supposed to do a three sixty and suddenly like her again!

'And we need to go according to Dante?' Lily asked him, taking a step closer towards him.

James' back pressed against the stair railing and he gulped, and it wasn't only because the staircase was beginning to turn.

'Well,' he said, sounding a little squeaky from her close proximity. 'It'd be rude not to.'

'I see,' Lily said slowly. 'And what would I tell Amos?'

Reality sunk in and James felt sick. Lily was playing him. She had a boyfriend, a Hufflepuff boyfriend who James hated but knew that Lily liked very much. Because she would dump her boyfriend for the boy who had made her life a living hell? Heh. Hell.

James wasn't sure why, but with the odds against him, (not to mention Lily) he managed to say, 'Screw him.'

'I'd rather not,' Lily replied, wrapping her arms around James' neck. She leaned closer and he breathed in her bewitching scent. 'So Hell's frozen over, huh?'

'Uh huh,' James managed as she leaned closer, suddenly feeling more confident even if it wasn't obvious from the way he squeaked like a gerbil.

'We wouldn't want to disagree with Dante, now would we?' she asked, her cool breath on his face.

'Dante's law,' James said in a husky voice.

'And we all know I'm a good girl,' Lily said.

And then she kissed him.

She pressed her hot lips against his and they moved in perfect sync, his hands gripping her hips tightly, hers running through his hair, pulling and forcing moans out of him. She pulled him closer and he let her, the only thing separating them being the unfortunate need for oxygen. That, and they were probably going to fall over the staircase.

* * *

The next morning, Amos Diggory was dumped in front of the entire Great Hall, very confused about why his girlfriend had left him. Her answer when he asked her why?

'Hell's frozen over.'

* * *

**Edited: June 18th, 2014**

**2nd revision: June 17th 2015 (almost an entire year later and I only notice the mistakes now!)**


End file.
